Arrangement
by sharkinterviewee
Summary: Gamora thought Peter and Nebula hated each other. This new- friendship? was weird. Gamora barely had time to bond with her sister after Ego, so when did Nebula find time to bond with Peter? She refused to admit she was jealous of how they meet up and regularly communicate much more often than Nebula talks to Gamora. (starmora, sibling bonding, begrudging friendship Nebula & Peter)


There were many things Gamora expected in the aftermath of Ego. Trouble adjusting to their new environment on the Eclector, the emotional fallout following Yondu's death, struggling to work cohesively as their five member team suddenly included Mantis, and her dynamic with the others as a functioning member of the team still had yet to be worked out. Those were just a few of the things she expected.

What she didn't see coming, however, was how Peter had started hanging out with _Nebula_ more. Nebula- of all people.

It came out of nowhere, this- this sudden thing between them. Attachment? Friendship? It didn't make any sense. Gamora barely had time to bond with her own sister during and after the Ego incident, so when the hell did Nebula find time to bond with Peter?

Gamora thought they hated each other. But in the weeks and months following Ego, they've started hanging out or meeting up or spending time with each other, and she just didn't understand.

Gamora refused to admit she was jealous of all the time they spent together, how they regularly communicate and meet up much more often than Nebula talks to Gamora, and of course she is never included whenever her sister and her maybe-kinda-boyfriend person have these meetings of theirs.

Sometimes they took place on the ship, though she suspected that mostly had to do with Nebula hoping to 'bump into' and interact with an oblivious Mantis. Otherwise, she was sure, _all_ their meetings would take place off ship. Still. Whenever Nebula is on their ship, it is never to see Gamora. It is because she has a planned meeting with Peter.

A lot of their meetings happen at some port or trading post because they happened to be in the vicinity or something- and Peter leaves because they've arranged to meet together, and Gamora is never invited or part of these plans.

Gamora wasn't jealous. She _wasn't_.

But she found herself quietly seething when he comes back from meeting with Nebula and looks better than he has in days. Happier. Lighter.

She found herself gritting her teeth when she knew he was having one of his middle of the night phone calls with her sister.

And Peter never talked about what he talked with her sister about, and that might be the worst part.

After Yondu's funeral Gamora acknowledged their unspoken thing, and now he's grown so close to Nebula it makes her want to stab something.

She hated how close they've gotten.

She knew better than to think something sexual was going on- Nebula would never 'stoop that low' (which was good, because Peter was _hers_ ).

Nebula would rather be tortured than have anything of that nature to do with Peter, which was a comforting thought.

And sometimes, in their late night phone calls…. she'd hear his voice.

They always took place in his room with his door closed, and she could never make out a word of what he was saying, but she picked up on the tone of Peter's voice sometimes.

It made her grit her teeth when she heard how emotional his voice became in another middle of the night call.

She thought that might be the worst part of it.

It wasn't just that she was jealous of him spending more and more time with her sister of all people (though, let's face it, that was definitely true).

She was jealous that he was opening up to Nebula in a way that he's never opened up to her.

Sometimes she could hear his voice sound so wrecked, muffled by the door, and she hated that he trusted Nebula with that voice and not her. Gamora hated that she wasn't the person who got to hear that raw emotional voice of his unless she was sitting outside his door in the middle of the night.

Plus, Nebula spent more time with Peter than she did with Gamora, which was also something she wasn't too happy about.

Nebula will talk to Gamora for an average of 109 seconds every time she calls her. But she will stay on a call with Peter for an hour, even longer sometimes.

Gamora and Nebula's relationship had been getting better lately, but Nebula would never 'meet up' with her like she does with Peter.

Whenever Nebula was somewhere in the area, her and Peter always met up someplace and spent time together in person for a bit.

And Peter always came back from spending time with her sister looking rejuvenated and better than he had in weeks sometimes.

It was six months of this, six months after Ego, six months of Nebula and Peter growing closer, that Gamora just couldn't take it anymore.

She knew she had to confront one of them about this.

* * *

She chose Nebula, figuring she would be the least troublesome of the two.

* * *

"What is going on with you and Peter?" Gamora asked (demanded, really), slamming her hands down on the metal table her sister was sitting at. Nebula actually came onboard the Eclector for this meet up.

Nebula's gaze followed her hand, up her arm, then up to Gamora's face. Her black stare was one of boredom.

They stared at one another in silence, waiting for the other to break. The look in Gamora's eyes was fierce, her jaw set, determined to get answers this time.

Nebula was the first to break the silence, sighing in that detached way like this was beneath her, before speaking in her monotone voice. "There is no need to be jealous, sister. I find him repulsive, and the feeling is mutual."

"I am _not_ jealous," Gamora growled. She kicked the seat out across from her sister and planted herself in it, because it was time she found out what was going on. "Something has been happening for months, and I want to know what."

"I am not supposed to tell you," Nebula said, and maybe rolled her eyes (it's hard to tell). Her answer was almost by rote, and definitely had a sarcastic twinge to it.

"So you're taking orders from Peter now?" Gamora tried to bait her, but it was a little too on the nose.

Nebula didn't seem to care one way or the other, though there was a spark of amusement at Gamora's utter transparency.

It seemed she wasn't particularly invested in keeping any secrets, or getting caught up in the squabble that Gamora was trying to start with her, once again, extremely obvious attempt at baiting. Nebula didn't call her out on it, though, just drummed her fingers on the table in disinterest.

"Hardly. He talks all the time. I tune most of his drivel out."

"What do you two even have to talk about? What's with the meetings and the late night phone calls?" She couldn't imagine Nebula and Peter had that much to say to each other.

"We have an arrangement."

"An arrangement?" Gamora asked, not even sure which direction this was going to go- she wasn't expecting that. Whatever the hell that meant.

"Yes. An arrangement."

She waited for Nebula to elaborate, but it soon became clear she wouldn't do that on her own.

Gamora groaned internally, hating the feeling of giving in by asking another question. It felt like admitting defeat, like Nebula had gained a victory over her by forcing her to speak, even though she _knew_ what Gamora wanted to know. It was just another power play, the kind they had both grown up with.

Still, Gamora grit her teeth and just asked anyway. "And what exactly are the terms of this arrangement?"

"He sends me tips on scores and targets he picks up from ravager chatter. He's not completely useless in the sense that he at least know which sources on the ravager channels are reliable or not. He also… on occasion… provides some insights into you. Rarely. Most of his ideas are awful," Nebula corrected quickly, definitely not wanting anyone to think Peter had actually helped her on anything at all. She pursed her lips, suddenly looking much more uncomfortable, looking down at her fingers drumming on the table, and added, "He is the one who suggested the weapon I left you with the other week. He said that siblings present each other with gifts sometimes."

And okay, Gamora was not expecting that. And if that were true, she'd certainly never expect Nebula to _admit_ it.

She was shocked that A) Peter was giving her advice on her relationship with Gamora, B) that Nebula actually took his advice, and C) that her sister would admit to all of this.

It was more than a few weeks ago when she received the sword from Nebula, who, at the time, said that it was something she had no use for.

Gamora was impressed with the quality of the sword, but didn't doubt it for a second when Nebula said she had no use for it. Her sister had many knives and swords that she picked up from all over the place- she had little need for even more in her already well equipped arsenal.

Gamora didn't know that it was… a present.

"As for him, I sit in his general vicinity or stay on the line as he talks. Or cries," Nebula continued, still drumming her fingers to create that perfect air of detachment. "He always cries when he brings up Yondu Udonta. The first month after the ravager's funeral he cried every time I spoke with him. Thankfully that has ceased. He still brings up Ego often when he's upset. And he cries about his mother. If his tips weren't so good, I wouldn't put up with all his crying. I do make a lot of units off of him, though." Her voice altered slightly at the justification, less firm, more thoughtful, like she wasn't sure even herself if she meant it or not.

"What? Why does he go to you with those problems?" It was practically an accusation, coming from Gamora's lips with the sudden feeling of betrayal and something else that she didn't know what to call.

Gamora tried to ignore how much it hurt, learning that. But it was hard. It stung.

That Peter wouldn't so much as say Ego's name to Gamora, or the rest of them for that matter, yet he openly wept about his father to Nebula. It stung.

For her part, though, Nebula didn't seem surprised by the sudden animosity that had seeped into Gamora's tone. She didn't seem off put or bothered by it either.

"As ill advised as a choice he may seem, you have chosen him as your leader. He doesn't want to show weakness to you four. Five," Nebula corrected as an afterthought (she had complained before about how it was so hard to keep track of the number of guardians since it kept changing). "Kraglin either. It… I believe it is the 'family' thing you've mentioned before. You, your team, Kraglin, you are all family to him. He wants to seem put together in front of you. I am not family, therefore it is easier to show weakness in front of me," Nebula shrugged. "And he already knows I think nothing of him, so crying doesn't mean much. I already view him as weak and pathetic. So when he needs to do something pathetic like expressing emotions to another living being, he contacts me to avoid concerning you all. And it is to my understanding that he's been rather…. open about his feelings towards you, sister," Nebula said with a surprising amount of delicacy. "I would think it was self evident why he wants to show weakness in front of you least of all."

"Oh," Gamora blinked. Then blushed, partly because of what was said, and partly out of shame for jumping at Nebula's throat- figuratively- so quickly. "Thank you… for explaining that," she said, a bit apologetic, yet still conveying the genuine gratitude she felt. "It was rather insightful," Gamora smiled softly.

Nebula didn't smile back, instead she went with a short, curt nod. But Gamora knew what that meant.

* * *

They talked a bit more after that, about nothing of significance, and it was… nice. Gamora might even dare to label it a bonding moment.

Before leaving, Gamora laid her hand over Nebula's on the table and gave it a light squeeze.

"Thanks for the sword."

* * *

Gamora felt the need to at least make him aware that she knew about it now, so she went to tell him.

She didn't particularly enjoy keeping things from him, and she didn't even feel like this was one of the few and far between things that she _should_ keep from him. It was only right and fair that he know she had a more… thorough understanding of what his private conversations with Nebula were about.

It was his secret- she wouldn't feel right keeping the fact that she knew from him.

He deserved to know.

* * *

The ship was always in a state of disrepair, so it wasn't any surprise that Peter was in the middle of fixing some busted up pipes when she found him ('making some tune ups' as he liked to call it).

He looked up at the sound of her approaching footsteps, giving her a crooked smile when he saw who it was.

"You know, if you had told me the real reason you and Nebula contact each other so much, I wouldn't have been nearly as jealous," Gamora informed him with a playful grin, trying her best for a nonthreatening smile that might make him more likely to forgive her for kinda invading his privacy.

Peter straightened up, setting his tools to the side.

"She told you." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"About the talking."

"Yes."

"And the crying."

"Yes."

"Damn it," Peter cursed to himself under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why in the world did I think she could keep a secret?"

Then, when the last part of her statement hit him, his head shot up. "Wait, did you just say you were jealous?"

"Yes," Gamora confirmed easily, without hesitation. She had prepared herself for it, knowing that being truthful about her feelings might make up for a bit of invading his emotional privacy, in a sense.

Being vulnerable made it even. Sorta. Normally she was far too proud to admit even to herself feeling jealous, and would deny it at all costs if someone were to point it out. But being vulnerable and admitting having stupid embarrassing feelings like jealousy was just… fair when revealing to Peter she knew more than he intended her to about his vulnerable emotional moments with Nebula.

Gamora was fully prepared to admit she was jealous to him before she even approached him with it.

"Oh my God, did you think there was something sexual going on?" Peter asked, looking absolutely horrified. She had to fight the urge to laugh at how alarmed he was. "I swear there wasn't. Oh my God no. There was just so much crying. I just cried, like, all the time. That's like the opposite of sex. I swear, Gamora, I would never-"

"I know," she interrupted his flurry with a smile, walking to him, closing the distance between them. Peter's eyes widened with every step, and he actually gulped when she lifted her hands up to his neck to fix the collar of his shirt that didn't actually need fixing.

"I suppose I was more jealous of how close you two had gotten," she said, frowning slightly. "Jealous of that emotional intimacy, I suppose." She met his eyes then. "But now I understand that it may be easier to share certain things with her than it is with me. I am glad that you can 'get things off your chest' by talking with her. I support you coping by talking with her about all these difficult things. I just wanted you to know that. And, if you feel the need, you can come talk and cry in front of me too," she added with a smile. Her hands were still resting at his collar, and she had half a mind to note that this closeness, this warmth, was nice. They were usually never this close unless they were dancing. But being this close and not dancing was nice too.

She particularly enjoyed his sorta slack jawed look, evidently surprised by the closeness too, that her fingers were still at the base of his neck, and she didn't seem to have any intention of moving them any time soon.

"Y-yeah, cool," Peter stuttered (only a bit), looking way too cute when he started blindly nodding when he realized she was waiting for a response.

"And thanks. The sword was a nice touch." Gamora pushed up off his shoulders as she raised on her toes, pressing a soft and sweet kiss to his cheek.

She then turned on her heel and promptly walked away.

* * *

Peter was still staring at the direction she walked off in five minutes later, lifting his hand and laying it over his cheek that still tingled from her lips.

That was the first time Gamora's ever kissed him.

Peter had the thought that maybe emotional vulnerability was something he should try more often if it got him kisses like this.

He made a mental note to start opening up to Gamora more and see how it goes.

* * *

 **AN: If Gamora and Peter seem like they're taking a helluvalot of time to get around to something, that's cause they are. They're taking things slow. It's not like Gamora was able to have anything close to a romantic relationship back when she was an assassin for a psychopath, so yeah, they're still in an undetermined relationship thing, with their unspoken now spoken thing.**


End file.
